Taming Git's Line Endings on Windows: A Tale of Frustration and Triumph

As a developer working with Git on Windows, I've often found myself wrestling with the pesky issue of line endings. The autocrlf=input option is supposed to help alleviate this problem, but it can be a real challenge to get it right.

In this article, we'll explore how to configure Git to use the correct line endings and avoid the frustration that comes with dealing with CRLF garbage.

First, let's take a step back and understand why line endings are a concern. On Unix-based systems like Linux, files typically end with a newline character (LF), while Windows uses both LF and CR-LF (CRLF) line endings. This can lead to issues when working on cross-platform projects, as different systems may interpret line endings differently.

To illustrate this problem, let's take a look at an example. Suppose we have a file with the following content:

```c

#include

int main() {

std::cout << 'Hello, World!' << std::endl;

return 0;

}

```

On a Unix-based system, this file would be saved with LF line endings, like so:

```

#include

int main() {

std::cout << 'Hello, World!' << std::endl;

return 0;

}

```

However, if we commit this file to Git on Windows using the default autocrlf setting, it would be saved with CRLF line endings instead:

```

#include

int main() {

std::cout << 'Hello, World!' << std::endl;^M

return 0;

}

```

As you can see, this can lead to some serious issues when working on cross-platform projects. To avoid these problems, we need to configure Git to use the correct line endings.

One option is to set autocrlf=input in our global Git configuration file. This tells Git to convert CRLF line endings to LF on checkout and commit only LF line endings. This ensures that our files are saved with the correct line endings, regardless of the system we're working on.

However, as I've found out the hard way, this option can be a bit finicky. Sometimes, Git will decide to use CRLF line endings despite our best efforts to configure it otherwise. And when this happens, it can be a real pain to clean up the mess.

That's why I've come to appreciate the tocrlf=input option. This option forces LF line endings on checkout and ensures that everything is CRLF locally (which isn't a big deal if you're working on a Linux system). However, as with all good things, there's a catch - this option can be a bit overzealous at times.

In conclusion, configuring Git to use the correct line endings can be a challenge, especially when working on Windows. However, by setting autocrlf=input in our global configuration file and being mindful of the tocrlf=input option, we can avoid many of the issues that come with dealing with CRLF garbage.

Git windows line endings